Physics Commons^™

Using Principal Component Analysis To Improve Fallout Characterization, Derek W. Haws

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has shown a correlation between actinide location and elemental composition in fallout from historic weapons testing. Fifty spherical fallout samples were collected from near ground zero of a surface burst weapons test. The samples were mounted in an aluminum puck then ground and polished to a hemisphere exposing the central plane. Physical morphologies of the samples ranged from clear to opaque with inclusions, voids, and/or uniform characteristics. Spectroscopy data were collected using optical microscopes and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with radioactivity recorded through …